Stock Market & Financial Investment News

Synaptics jumps after acquiring provider of chips to AppleShares of Synaptics (SYNA) are jumping after the company confirmed last night that it had agreed to buy Renesas SP Drivers. Synaptics develops gesture and touch sensing technologies for smartphones. Renesas SP Drivers supplies display driver chips for Apple's (AAPL) iPhone. WHAT'S NEW: Synaptics announced that it would buy the outstanding shares of Renesas SP Drivers for $475M. Synaptics said the deal would increase its potential market by 1.5x and advance its touch and display driver integration initiative. Renesas SP Drivers generated about $650M in revenue in the year ending in March, Synaptics reported. Synaptics last night also raised its fourth quarter revenue guidance to $300M-$310M from $275M-$295M. ANALYST REACTION: In a note to investors earlier today, Craig-Hallum analyst Anthony Stoss wrote that the deal is positive for Synaptics, as the transaction will help the company rapidly scale and accelerate the deployment of its fully integrated touch display driver solutions. The deal will also help Synaptics expand its potential market, according to Stoss, who raised his price target on the shares to $90 from $80 and reiterated a Buy rating on the stock. Meanwhile, John Vinh, an analyst at research firm Pacific Crest, called the acquisition "a game changer" for Synaptics in a note to investors earlier today. By integrating display drivers into its touch controller, Synaptics can position itself for additional sales to Apple and other companies, Vinh believes. The analyst raised his price target on Synaptics to $110 from $80 and kept an Outperform rating on the stock. WHAT'S NOTABLE: Reuters reported on May 27, citing sources, that Japan's Renesas planned to sell its 55% stake in the unit, which the news service said is the sole supplier of display driver chips for the iPhone, to Synaptics. Apple had also been in talks about a possible purchase of the unit, but the sources said those talks failed to progress, according to Reuters. PRICE ACTION: In late morning trading, Synaptics jumped $14.64, or 22%, to $81.14.

On The Fly: Midday WrapStocks on Wall Street were lower at midday, with the Dow falling about 1%. The market opened in negative territory and proceeded to gain additional downside momentum in early trading. Data on housing starts was not good, even accounting for bad weather in many areas of the country, and the prospect of interest rate increases on the horizon may have some fearing that the housing market recovery is in danger of stalling. Adding to the weakness in stocks may have been the further slide in crude oil prices, which pushed benchmark U.S. crude oil below $43 per barrel earlier in the session. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., housing starts plunged 17% to an 897K rate in February, widely undershooting expectations for starts to be down 2.4% to a 1.04M rate, but much of the slide was attributed to weather. Building permits rose 3% to a rate of 1.092M, which was better than the expected 0.5% growth to a 1.065M rate. In Europe, Germany's ZEW Center investor confidence index climbed to 54.8 from 53 last month, though that fell short of the 59.4 consensus forecast. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite index rose 1.6% to close at its highest level in over 6 years. COMPANY NEWS: Apple (AAPL) is preparing to launch an online TV service later this year, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times. After the reports, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said he believes Apple's online TV service launch would lay the groundwork for an actual television launch sometime in 2016. Munster estimates that at an average selling price of $1,750, a television could add about 7% to Apple's 2017 revenue. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers was Black Diamond (BDE), which jumped 30% after the company reported was then expected quarterly results and guidance but also announced it has hired two banks to help it explore its strategic alternatives. Also higher was Esperion (ESPR), which rose 15% after the company's phase 2b study of ETC-1002, a product in development for patients with hypercholesterolemia on stable statin therapy, met its primary endpoints. Among the noteworthy losers was Himax (HIMX), which dropped 9% after BofA Merrill Lynch downgraded the stock two notches to Underperform from Buy. Also lower following its earnings report was magicJack (CALL), which fell 19%. INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was down 152.00, or 0.85%, to 17,825.42, the Nasdaq was down 8.39, or 0.17%, to 4,921.12, and the S&P 500 was down 11.39, or 0.55%, to 2,069.80.